NCJ Number
193713
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 41 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2002 Pages: 41-58
Date Published
February 2002
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article argues that the dominant emphasis upon effective practice in probation work is an example of a key mechanism of social control in advanced liberal societies.
Abstract
The article examines the role of effective programs in the emerging social policy agenda of citizen re-moralization, "responsibilization," and inclusion exemplified in late modern advanced liberal welfare states. The article concludes that the embracement of effective programs has reconstituted the probation service as a key agency in the social control and exclusion of those deemed "intransigent" or "irresponsible," thus assisting in the demarcation of those who can play a full role in the welfare society from those who cannot. The article considers effective practice a new form of rehabilitation, but more importantly as part of a hybrid criminal justice policy of punitive and excluding measures combined with a correctional curriculum in which traditional rehabilitative concerns have been co-opted to an advanced liberal agenda. This co-option involves subjugation of the rehabilitative and welfare ideal to an economic discourse of rationalization, accountability, audit, and evaluation and the dominance of a disciplinary technique based upon "responsibilisation." Notes, references